MILWAUKEE — Volunteers in Wisconsin are racing against the clock to provide shelter and supplies for hurricane victims as another hurricane that’s on its way to Florida’s Gulf Coast is rapidly intensifying.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday as it moves east from the Gulf of Mexico. As of Tuesday morning, it was a Category 4 hurricane.
It comes as parts of Florida are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which ripped through less than two weeks ago.
Malysha MacFarland works on the Disaster Team in Milwaukee for the American Red Cross of Wisconsin. MacFarland said she is very well trained for emergency readiness, but nothing could prepare her for the panicked call she received from her father during Huricane Helene.
“It was interesting to be on the other side, where my father was giving me a call to tell me goodbye,” MacFarland said. “He called me and said this might be my last phone call to you.”
Her father, Jasper, lives in Clear Water Beach. He didn’t evacuate because it wasn’t supposed to be as bad there, but it changed course at the last minute, leaving him and his dog Azula trapped.
“They ended up getting very lucky in the sense that the mattress ended up being kind of an air float mattress, so he sat on his mattress as the water floated up,” explained MacFarland.
It was her dad’s friend, Matthew Flora, who came to the rescue when everyone thought all hope was lost.
“His friend Mattie, who also didn’t evacuate, ended up stealing a jet ski — he rode all the way to my dad’s house, smashed in a window and got my dad out and his pitbull, Azula,” she said.
MacFarland said the experience has inspired her to try to help more people through her work.
Jen Warren is the regional director of communications for the American Red Cross of Wisconsin. As Florida prepares for another hurricane so soon after Helene, Warren said donating money and blood are the most impactful things to do from a distance.
“So when something like a hurricane happens, blood drives get cancelled. We probably have had now over a thousand blood drives in the southeast that have been cancelled by a result of Hurricane Helene,” Warren said.
MacFarland said she is thankful her dad and his dog survived. She said she’s still in a bit of shock but ready to help as many people as she possibly can through this natural disaster.
“It’s something I’m still processing, and something that’s made me closer to what’s going on with Hurricane Helene and Milton and I’m just really sad for all the families that this has affected,” she said.
Leaders said if you’d like to donate to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts, you can do so, here.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for MacFarland’s dad. You can donate to that, here.